1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for monitoring parameters of tires of a motor vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for monitoring parameters of each tire of the motor vehicle in an energy efficient manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems have been developed to monitor parameters of tires for motor vehicles. These systems use sensors mounted inside the tires of the motor vehicle to directly measure the parameters desired. These sensors then transmit the information to a receiver on the motor vehicle to be displayed for the operator of the motor vehicle. Because tires are rotated and periodically changed, a common problem with these systems is identifying from which tire location the transmission is emanating.
Methods for determining sensor location have been devised. Many of these methods involve having the receiver initiate a training mode. In the training mode, a controller transmits to each of the sensors inside the tires to transmit a signal to the receiver in a predetermined order, e.g., right-front, left-front, left-rear and right-rear. The operator of the vehicle must go to each tire and initiate the transmission of the signal from that particular tire. Requiring the operator to follow a particular tire transmission pattern when training the system oftentimes leads to errors. This is because the receiver receives four different signals and operates under the assumption that the transmission of those signals was in the proper order.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,592 discloses one solution for the training mode of the monitoring system. In this reference, a manually actuated transmitter creates a manual input location identification. The sensor within the tire receives the manually input location identification and stores that information and transmits this information every time the sensor is queried. When the position of the tire is changed, the manually input location identification is changed at that time. This system operates when the sensor identifies itself, its location and then transmits the parameter it senses. In this reference, the sensed parameter is pressure.
Because the sensor contemplated in this reference is located within the tire, it relies on a battery for its power. Transmitting the location of the sensor consumes battery power and is often redundant. More specifically, the sensor transmits its location every time it transmits a parameter signal, regardless of whether the tire has been rotated to a new position or not. Should the battery exhaust its potential, the tire must be removed from the wheel and the battery must be replaced. Operators of motor vehicles tend to consider this system non-operational due to its high maintenance and the time and cost associated with replacing the batteries.
A method identifies a plurality of tires of a motor vehicle by location to sense a parameter of each of the plurality of tires. The method incorporates the use of a central receiver, a plurality of sensors, a plurality of transmitters and a mobile training unit. The method includes the steps of moving the mobile training unit to a location adjacent one of the plurality of tires. Once there, the operator inputs manually the location of one of the plurality of tires with respect to the motor vehicle.
A sensor identification is retrieved from one of the plurality of sensors at the one of the plurality of tires. The location information and the sensor identification for that particular sensor are paired together to create paired data. The paired data is then transmitted from the sensor to the central receiver allowing the central receiver to identify one of the plurality of tires by the paired data when the transmitter of the one of the plurality of tires transmits a signal based on the identification signal and the parameter sensed by the one of the plurality of sensors.